Casino gaming machines and state run lotteries have proliferated in recent years. As the number of casinos and gaming outlets has increased, the competition to attract and retain new customers has intensified. To meet this competition for patrons, there is a continual need to develop new games that are exciting and entertaining. Particularly valuable are games that retain their excitement and entertainment value even after being played many times. Typically, these games allow a player to use his skill (within limits) to affect the outcome of the game. Although skill-based games tend to hold player interest and enthusiasm, they generally are not available in casino gaming machines.
Most new casino games are variations on standard casino gaming machines such as slot machines. The chief drawback of these machines is the minimal participation a player has in the outcome of the gaming event. The player merely actuates the device, and the machine selects the outcome. This lack of participation in the game and a chance to affect the game outcome quickly leads to player boredom.
Bonus games have been added to slot machines to increase player interest. These bonus games allow a player a chance to win additional awards. These bonus games, like their underlying counterparts, have outcomes dictated by chance and suffer from the same fundamental flaws as the slot machine.
The bonus games developed to date generally fall under one of two categories. The first category includes unlinked, stand-alone basic slot machine games with a bonus game. The second category includes linked slot machines wherein the game terminals are in communication through a central controller to allow players to enter a common bonus game.
An example of a bonus game is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,255 to Thomas. This bonus game involves the player is a blind selection process. The player chooses symbols until he picks a winning symbol. The jackpot continually decreases with each nonwinning selection until the winning symbol is selected. No player skill is involved in the selection process and the results of the game are purely based on chance.
A similar bonus feature is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,429 to Demar, which again involves a player in a blind selection process. The player accumulates awards until the “game over” symbol is picked. Again, no player skill is involved in this selection process and the results of the game are purely based on chance.
In all of the secondary events, or bonus games described above, the game play requires no skill and the results are purely dictated by chance. The player is merely a passive observer. There is no way for a player to deliberately alter the course of the game, or otherwise form a game play strategy, to affect the outcome of the game.
Recently, more sophisticated games have been provided that allow players to collaborate and compete from a network of gaming terminals. These games typically provide a group game experience such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,998, entitled “Combined Slot Machine and Racing Game,” to Seelig. This patent generally describes a racetrack ancillary to a standard slot machine. The racing icons are moved around the racetrack based on the underlying slot machine play.
Another similar patent is U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,275, entitled “Progressive Jackpot Game with Guaranteed Winner” to Olsen. This is another variation of a racetrack game that allows a player to bet on a particular racing icon (e.g., a horse or car) involved in the race. The racing icon, with successive rounds of gaming, progresses around the racetrack as the player wagers on the underlying gaming machine. The player whose icon wins the race is then entitled to an additional bonus.
The problem with all of the above linked machine bonus events is the fact that the player has no direct control over the outcome of the bonus game. The player merely observes his position relative to other players. The player in the bonus game, as in the nonlinked games, is in a passive, nonthinking environment. What is desired is a new game that challenges a player's mental skills to make casino games more fun to play.